Tuesday, November 15, 2011

The Book Deal!

As the next turn on my long, winding road as a writer, I’ve hit a much hoped for milestone: a deal has been struck to publish my mystery novel. Just this afternoon, my agent reached an agreement with a major publisher – St. Martin’s Press – for a two book contract. The first manuscript is in the editor’s hands; the second is to come. (These novels will feature my detective team of O’Nelligan and Plunkett whom I’ve grown quite fond of after having written and published three of their shorter tales already.) This all came to pass in a rather intriguing way. Last November, I was attending the mystery writer’s conference Crime Bake in Massachusetts. I was there as a panelist, but also as one of many writers trying to find representation for his manuscript. I pitched to a couple of literary agents there, who, in the end, chose not to take on the project. However, one night I ended up by chance dining next to Susan Gleason, an agent who I had not pitched to. Between the entrée and dessert, she told me that if I had something I wanted her to look over, I should feel free to contact her. I accepted her card and filed it in my breast pocket. Jump ahead to a year later, almost to the day. I’m driving down to this year’s Crime Bake, when I get a call from Susan (who by now has become my agent) to say that St. Martin’s has made an offer on the book. Ah yes! The whole cycle of this story begins and ends with Crime Bake – for which I tender an immense shout out. So that, my friends, is today’s tale…

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5 comments:

  1. Miguel, I am so proud of you and happy for you. I had a feeling your great talent and perseverance would prevail....hope to get a signed copy some day soon....Miss u. Luv, R

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  2. What great news -- congratulations!

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  3. Congratulations again! That's amazing.

    And so cool how it's all tied to Crime Bake.

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  4. Congratulations! So happy for you. Now if I can just reach the same goal... Maybe attending CrimeBake is the secret!?! Do you have a publication date yet?

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  5. It looks like the first book will probably come out in spring/summer 2013 (publishing can be a VERY methodical process...)

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